Leonard Bentley
River Thames
A few of the thirty LCC steamboats which plied the River Thames between 1905 and 1907. Like many before and since, the London County Council steamboat service could not make a profit and was quickly run down over the two years of its existence. All of the boats were of the same contruction, most of which were built on the Thames at the Thames Ironworks at Blackwall and Rennies at Greenwich. When sold off the boats went for a song and many ended their days in Europe and the middle east. Three of the boats can be identified, from the left the far boats are Fitzailwin, Whittington and Francis Drake. The Fitzailwin ended up in Baghdad where the Royal Indian Marine used it in operations against the turks on the River Tigris. The Whittington ended up in the north of Russia and the Francis Drake was sold to a Belgian company and renamed Wilford I.
River Thames
A few of the thirty LCC steamboats which plied the River Thames between 1905 and 1907. Like many before and since, the London County Council steamboat service could not make a profit and was quickly run down over the two years of its existence. All of the boats were of the same contruction, most of which were built on the Thames at the Thames Ironworks at Blackwall and Rennies at Greenwich. When sold off the boats went for a song and many ended their days in Europe and the middle east. Three of the boats can be identified, from the left the far boats are Fitzailwin, Whittington and Francis Drake. The Fitzailwin ended up in Baghdad where the Royal Indian Marine used it in operations against the turks on the River Tigris. The Whittington ended up in the north of Russia and the Francis Drake was sold to a Belgian company and renamed Wilford I.